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Angels Sign Angel Perdomo, Huascar Ynoa To Minor League Deals

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The Angels have signed left-hander Angel Perdomo and righty Huascar Ynoa to minor league contracts, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Both are former big leaguers and both will presumably be in major league camp next spring.

Perdomo, 31, has pitched in parts of four big league seasons — including a brief 2025 appearance with the A’s. He’s totaled 52 major league frames and has an ugly 5.54 ERA in that time, though there are plenty of under-the-hood numbers to like. The towering 6’8″ southpaw sits 94.1 mph with his heater and gets great extension on the pitch due to his long levers. He’s punched out a massive 34.2% of his opponents in the majors but also struggles to command those lanky limbs, evidenced by a career 16% walk rate.

In parts of five Triple-A seasons, Perdomo has a 3.74 ERA, 35.7% strikeout rate and 15% walk rate. That ERA is slightly skewed from a rough showing this past season (5.52 ERA in 14 1/3 innings) as he returned from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2024 season and a portion of the ’25 campaign. Perdomo is just shy of three years of major league service. If he’s called to the big leagues at any point and pitches like he did in 2023 before blowing out his elbow (29 innings, 3.72 ERA, 37.6 K%, 9.4 BB%), the Halos would be able to control him for another three seasons. He’s out of minor league options though, so if the Angels do add him to the major league roster, he’ll have to stick or else be designated for assignment.

Ynoa, 27, was a notable international signing by the Twins as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, way back in 2014. The Twins eventually traded him to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Jaime Garcia. Ynoa made his big league debut with the Braves in 2019 but posted uninspiring numbers in brief looks in both ’19 and ’20.

In 2021, Ynoa looked the part of a potential breakout arm. He logged a 2.90 ERA through his first 11 starts and 62 innings but stumbled through a poor finish that bloated his season-long earned run average to 4.05. It was a solid showing for a then-23-year-old righty all the same, but injuries halted his development. Ynoa pitched only 6 2/3 innings in the majors in 2022. He struggled to a 5.68 in 77 2/3 Triple-A frames as well before undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2023 campaign.

Upon returning in 2024, Ynoa’s struggles continued. He posted an ERA north of 6.00 in limited action and became a minor league free agent at season’s end. He then inked a minor league deal to go back to the Twins but was cut loose after five very rough minor league relief outings. Ynoa closed out the season pitching in the Mexican League, and he’s had a decent run in the Dominican Winter League this offseason (2.16 ERA, 18-to-10 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 relief innings). Like Perdomo, Ynoa is out of minor league options, so if he makes the roster he’d need to stick or else be exposed to waivers in order to be sent back down.

Angels Open To Giving Mike Trout Center Field Reps

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Last offseason, the Angels moved Mike Trout out of center field. They hoped that he’s stay healthier as an everyday right fielder after he’d been limited to 82 games or fewer in three of the previous four seasons. Things didn’t go as planned, as Trout suffered a bone bruise in his left knee that cost him almost all of May. He avoided the injured list the rest of the way but was a full-time designated hitter.

Trout didn’t log a single inning in center field. He made 22 starts in right, none after the end of April. Nevertheless, general manager Perry Minasian told reporters this week that the Halos could bounce Trout around the outfield next season. That might include some playing time back up the middle.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” the GM said (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). “We’ll see where the team looks like when we get to Spring Training and what’s in place and what gives us the best chance to win games. (He) might be playing center. One day might be playing left. One day might be DHing.”

As Minasian noted, a lot could depend on what the remainder of the offseason looks like. The Angels entered the winter with a logjam in the corners. That’s not so much the case after they traded Taylor Ward for Grayson Rodriguez. It’d still be ideal to have Trout playing regularly in the outfield again, especially if they want to give Jorge Soler a rebound opportunity.

Soler should be a DH but was forced to start 39 games in right field (with predictably poor results) by Trout’s injury. The Angels gave Jo Adell 724 innings in center field. He was arguably the worst defensive center fielder in MLB and found himself back in right field for the final two months of the season. The best defensive alignment has Trout in left, Adell in right, and Soler at DH.

That requires someone else to step up as the regular center fielder. Bryce Teodosio is an excellent defender, but he’s coming off a .203/.248/.304 showing in 50 games. Kyren Paris and Matthew Lugo picked up a handful of center field starts but didn’t hit well either. They presumably don’t want Trout playing there on an everyday basis.

The Angels are so aggressive with their prospect promotions that it’s probably not out of the question that 20-year-old Nelson Rada gets a chance to break camp. He’s a speedster and potential plus defender who split his age-19 season between Double-A and Triple-A. Rada stole 54 bases and reached base at fantastic .398 clip behind a 12.7% walk rate. He’s a gifted pure hitter but has essentially no power upside in his 5’9″ frame. He hit just two home runs this year and has six longballs in his professional career. Baseball America ranks him the #4 prospect and the top position player talent in a weak Halos’ farm system.

Even if Rada begins the season at Triple-A Salt Lake, it’s likely he’ll be in the majors at some point next season. That could give them enough confidence to patch things together at the position internally. “Do we have to go get a center fielder? Not necessarily,” Minasian said. “We have some players that we believe can fill the position and obviously, Teodosio can play defense at a very high level. It’s more player-specific. … I wouldn’t say it’s a must, but is it an area we’re looking at? Absolutely.”

As is often the case, the center field supply is limited. Harrison Bader is the only regular available in free agency, unless a team feels Cody Bellinger could move back to the position in an everyday capacity. Luis Robert Jr. is a long shot trade possibility. The Astros are shopping Jake Meyers but want MLB starting pitching, which the Angels don’t have in abundance. A role player like Nathan Lukes or Jacob Young come could available but may not move the needle enough for the Halos to prioritize them.

The Angels have various other needs to weigh against their center field situation. They should add a multi-positional infielder who can handle both second and third base. They need at least one starting pitcher and one or two high-leverage relievers, ideally ones who throw from the right side. Minasian confirmed this afternoon that they’re still in the bullpen market after signing Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano last night (via Bollinger). An outside addition could push Robert Stephenson and Ben Joyce to succeed Kenley Jansen in the ninth. “There’s no set closer right now. We’re still looking at the bullpen. It’s not an area where we’re done,” Minasian said.

Angels Sign Drew Pomeranz

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The Angels announced the signing of lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz to a one-year deal. It’s reportedly a $4MM guarantee for the CAA client. The Angels had five openings on the 40-man roster and are now up to 37 between this and their signing of right-hander Jordan Romano.

Pomeranz earned a big league deal after a comeback season with the Cubs. The 37-year-old southpaw had not appeared in an MLB game between 2022-24, as a brief stint on the Giants MLB roster in ’24 didn’t result in any game action. He began this past season on a minor league contract with the Mariners. Pomeranz posted big strikeout numbers against Triple-A opposition to convince the Cubs to add him to the MLB bullpen. He exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract to head to Chicago in mid-April.

It worked out quite nicely. Pomeranz tossed 49 2/3 innings of 2.17 ERA ball across 57 appearances. That included a remarkable stretch to begin the season, as he didn’t allow a single earned run in his first 26 outings. He hit a rough patch in July but rebounded with a 2.21 mark in 20 1/3 innings from the beginning of August through season’s end. Pomeranz fanned 28.1% of opposing hitters against a 7.4% walk percentage. While the Cubs didn’t use him in a ton of high-leverage situations, he recorded 14 holds while giving up the lead just twice.

Pomeranz leaned very heavily on his four-seam fastball. He threw the pitch three quarters of the time to right-handers and at an 84% clip against southpaws. It’s not going to blow hitters away on speed alone. His 92.7 MPH average velocity is middling. Pomeranz ranked near the top of the league in fastball spin, which allowed the pitch to play above its velocity at the top of the strike zone. That could put him in danger of home run issues, but it also led to a lot of harmless fly balls and a decent swinging strike rate. His only secondary pitch is an 83-84 MPH knuckle-curve that played more as a ground-ball offering.

The Angels need to do a lot of heavy lifting in the bullpen. Closer Kenley Jansen is headed to Detroit on an $11MM deal. They’re moving Reid Detmers back to the rotation, taking their top setup man out of the mix. Pomeranz pairs with Brock Burke to give rookie manager Kurt Suzuki a couple solid options from the left side. Burke has had neutral platoon numbers over the course of his career. Pomeranz doesn’t need to be in a specialist role but is probably the superior option against teams’ best left-handed bats. He held southpaws to a .176/.238/.203 line with a massive 35% strikeout rate in 80 plate appearances this year.

Their right-handed options are weaker even if they finally get a healthy season out of Robert Stephenson. They should continue to look for leverage arms from the right side. Their agreement with Pomeranz and $2MM rebound flier on Romano push their projected payroll to $172MM, according to RosterResource. They carried a $193MM payroll to begin the 2025 season. There’s a decent amount of space but a lot of work to be done. The Angels need another starter, at least one multi-positional infielder, and a center fielder. That’s on top of whatever moves are yet to come in the bullpen.

Pomeranz is the third free agent lefty reliever to come off the board today. Now former teammate Caleb Thielbar is headed back to the Cubs, while Caleb Ferguson agreed to terms with the Reds. Sean Newcomb, Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson and Taylor Rogers are among those who remain unsigned.

Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News first reported that Pomeranz and the Angels had a one-year deal. Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register was first on the $4MM guarantee. Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images.

Angels Sign Jordan Romano

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The Angels announced the signing of veteran reliever Jordan Romano to a one-year contract. It’s reportedly a $2MM guarantee for the VC Sports Group client. The Angels had five openings on the 40-man roster and are now up to 37 between this and their signing of left-hander Drew Pomeranz.

It’s a reclamation flier on a former All-Star closer. The Canadian-born Romano recorded consecutive 36-save seasons for the Blue Jays in 2022 and ’23. He went to the Midsummer Classic in both years and had a sub-3.00 earned run average each season between 2021-23. Things have gone completely off the rails over the past two seasons. Romano allowed a 6.59 ERA in 15 appearances before undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery in 2024. The Jays non-tendered him heading into his final year of arbitration.

That worked out well for him from a financial perspective. Romano had been projected for a $7.75MM arbitration salary but found an $8.5MM guarantee from the Phillies in free agency. Philadelphia was not able to get him back on track, as he surrendered an even uglier 8.23 ERA across 42 2/3 frames. He was one of three pitchers to get to 40+ innings while allowing at least eight earned runs per nine innings. Romano’s season ended in August when he was diagnosed with a middle finger injury on his throwing hand as well as stiffness in his neck.

It’s surprising to see Romano command a major league contract at all, though the $2MM salary won’t make a huge dent on the Angels’ books. Romano still has a 95-96 MPH fastball and a promising mid-80s slider. He struck out a quarter of opponents behind a solid 11.8% swinging strike rate for the Phillies. There’s still some promise in his raw stuff, but he’ll need to avoid the injuries and home run barrages that have tanked his past couple seasons.

Tonight’s signings push the Angels’ projected payroll to $172MM, according to RosterResource. They carried a $193MM payroll to begin the 2025 season. Romano should start the year in low-leverage relief, leaving the club in need of a true right-handed setup man. They’re hoping for a healthy season from Robert Stephenson, who is the favorite to replace Kenley Jansen as closer. Ben Joyce is a question mark after undergoing shoulder surgery in May. Ryan Zeferjahn, José Fermin, Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman and Cody Laweryson are among their other right-handed options. It’s a clear area of need — alongside starting pitching, an infielder, and center field — for the remainder of the offseason.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first on the signing and terms. Image courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images.

Angels Re-Sign Yolmer Sanchez To Minor League Deal

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The Angels brought back infielder Yolmer Sánchez on a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction log. It’s unclear if he’ll get another invite to big league camp after appearing last spring as a non-roster invitee.

Sánchez is trying to get back to the big leagues for the first time since 2022. The switch-hitting infielder played seven seasons with the White Sox between 2014-20. He won a Gold Glove at second base in 2019. Sánchez hit .245/.300/.360 in nearly 2500 trips to the plate in a ChiSox uniform. He has spent most of the last five years at the Triple-A level. Sánchez got to the majors briefly again in 2022, suiting up for the Red Sox and Mets.

The 33-year-old spent the entire 2025 season with the Halos’ top affiliate in Salt Lake. He hit .246/.357/.329 with just four home runs through 492 trips to the plate. It’s a light bat, but the Angels clearly appreciate the defensive versatility that Sánchez brings as a veteran depth piece. He played all throughout the infield and made a few starts in both corner outfield positions.

Zach Neto is locked in at shortstop. The Angels could use a multi-positional infielder who can upgrade second and third base. They took a flier on former top prospect Vaughn Grissom in a trade with Boston at the Winter Meetings. Grissom and second-year infielder Christian Moore are the projected starters at second and third base, with Oswald Peraza and Denzer Guzman still in the mix. No one from that group has had any big league success, so the front office should look to raise the floor by adding at least an established veteran utility piece.

Angels Acquire Vaughn Grissom

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The Angels have acquired infielder Vaughn Grissom from the Red Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder Isaiah Jackson, according to announcements from both clubs. Prior to the official announcement, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the Grissom portion and Chris Cotillo of MassLive the Jackson part. The move drops Boston’s 40-man count to 39, perhaps allowing them to make a selection in tomorrow’s Rule 5 draft. The Halos’ 40-man count goes from 34 to 35.

If there’s a consistent theme in how the Angels are attacking this offseason, it is buying low on former top prospects. Their two biggest moves of the winter so far have been to sign Alek Manoah and acquire Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles. Manoah and Rodriguez are both former first-round picks who are coming off a few years of injury struggles.

The situation with Grissom is somewhat analogous, though he is not a pitcher and didn’t have quite the same prospect pedigree. Atlanta took him in the 11th round of the 2019 draft but he put up huge numbers on his way up the minor league ladder. By the summer of 2022, he had become a top 100 prospect. He slashed .322/.411/.480 on the farm over the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Atlanta called him up in August of 2023, skipping him over the Triple-A level. He put up a big .291/.353/.440 line in his first 156 big league plate appearances.

Going into 2023, Atlanta let Dansby Swanson depart via free agency, signing with the Cubs. Grissom seemed to have a good shot at being the long-term answer there. There were questions about his defense but the bat seemed legit. Ron Washington, then on Atlanta’s coaching staff, worked with Grissom on his defense throughout the winter. At the end of spring training, Atlanta surprisingly decided to give Orlando Arcia the shortstop job. Grissom was optioned to Triple-A.

Atlanta called up Grissom a few times that year but he hit just .280/.313/.347 for a 79 wRC+ in his 80 plate appearances. But he still showed his offensive potential in the minors, as he hit .330/.419/.501 for a 138 wRC+ in Triple-A.

Going into 2024, Atlanta flipped Grissom to the Red Sox for Chris Sale. At the time, it seemed like a coup for the Red Sox. Sale had barely pitched from 2020 to 2022 due to injuries. He had made 20 starts in 2023 but with a 4.30 earned run average. Since he was going into his age-35 season, the final guaranteed season of his contract, the expectations weren’t high for him going forward.

That deal turned into a big bust for Boston. Sale posted a 2.38 ERA in 2024 and won the National League Cy Young award. Grissom, meanwhile, has mostly been stuck in Triple-A since being traded. Boston gave him 114 big league plate appearances in 2024 but he hit just .190/.246/.219 in those. He has still been putting up decent Triple-A numbers, but not quite as gaudy as before. Since the start of 2024, he has a .266/.357/.417 line and 106 wRC+ at the Triple-A level. He played all four infield spots during his time with Triple-A Worcester. He finished the 2025 season on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis.

Grissom exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward. The Sox have an uncertain infield picture at the moment but will likely address it with further moves this offseason. Since they just made the playoffs, they will be looking to compete again and surely didn’t want to rely on Grissom after a couple of uninspiring years.

For the Halos, they have been mired in mediocrity for a while now, having last made the playoffs over a decade ago. They need a lot to go right if they’re going to break that streak. They will probably make some more clear-cut upgrades at some point this winter but have thus far been taking chances on low-certainty upside plays.

Their infield has a couple of openings at the moment. They have Zach Neto locked in at shortstop and Nolan Schanuel at first base. Second and third base are up for grabs. At the hot corner, Anthony Rendon is technically signed for another season but is probably going to retire. The Angels gave Christian Moore a chance to grab the second base job in 2025 but he didn’t take advantage of that opportunity. Denzer Guzmán, Oswald Peraza and Kyren Paris are also on the roster but no one in that group has a track record of major league success.

There’s a path for Grissom to perhaps earn some playing time at second or third, or perhaps as a bench/utility guy. It’s possible those paths get blocked with future moves but they are there for now. Grissom still has less than two years of service time. If he can thrive as an Angel, they can retain him for five full seasons before he would be slated for free agency. He is only 24 years old, turning 25 in January.

To get that shot on Grissom, they are giving up an outfielder from deep in their system. Jackson was just selected in the eighth round of the draft this summer. He has ten games of experience as a professional, which came at High-A, where he hit .219 /.324/.344. He turns 22 in May. For the Sox, they are likely happy to get any kind of return at all for a guy who was getting pushed off the roster anyway.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Angels, Tigers Interested In Kenley Jansen

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The Angels and Tigers have each shown interest in free agent reliever Kenley Jansen, according to Ari Alexander of 7News Boston.  Both teams are known to be looking for high-leverage relievers, and Jansen is naturally a known quantity to the Halos after his strong results as the team’s closer in 2025.

Signed to a one-year, $10MM contract last February, Jansen recorded 29 saves in 30 chances for the Angels, while posting a 2.59 ERA over 59 innings.  His SIERA, however, was 3.94, as Jansen received quite a bit of good fortune in the form of a .195 BABIP and an 85.2% strand rate.  This batted-ball luck helped him avoid a lot of serious damage despite a very high 44.6% hard-hit ball rate and a below-average 8.1% walk rate.

While Jansen’s 24.4% strikeout rate was decent, it was also the lowest K% of his 16 MLB seasons, and a significant dropoff even from the 28.4% rate he delivered for the Red Sox in 2024.  Jansen’s signature cutter remains a deadly pitch, yet he has become increasingly reliant on the cutter in recent years, and threw it 81.4% of the time in 2025.  Obviously hitters are still having trouble fully capitalizing on this cutter-heavy arsenal, yet Jansen isn’t having a lot of success when mixing it up with his sinker or sweeper.

Between Jansen’s age (he turned 38 last September) and his shaky peripherals, it is fair to wonder if the right-hander might finally be slowing down after 16 Major League seasons.  It creates an interesting dilemma for teams in pursuit of back-end bullpen help, as nobody wants to be the club on the hook when or if Jansen’s production finally craters.  That said, Jansen is also one of the more accomplished closers in MLB history, and he got better as the 2025 season went on, with a sparkling 1.02 ERA over his last 35 1/3 innings of work.

Jansen said last summer that his hope is to pitch “at least” through the 2029 season, though obviously a short-term deal is in the cards for him this winter.  Before Jansen’s one-year pact with Los Angeles, his previous two trips to free agency yielded a two-year, $32MM deal with the Red Sox, and a one-year, $16MM deal with the Braves.  Assuming that he signs another one-year contract this winter, teams might feel the limited risk is worth it to see if Jansen can hold off Father Time for another season.

The Angels don’t have any obvious closer candidates waiting in the wings.  Injuries have limited Robert Stephenson to 10 innings over his two seasons with the Angels, while Ben Joyce missed almost all of the 2025 season due to shoulder surgery.  Reid Detmers is getting another shot as a starting pitcher, so while he might resurface as a bullpen candidate at some point, it might be asking a lot to insert Detmers into a closing role.  It would appear there might be some mutual interest in a reunion, as GM Perry Minasian is on record praising Jansen’s clubhouse leadership, and Jansen said he enjoyed his time pitching in Anaheim.

Then again, Jansen might also appreciate pitching for a team that has a better chance of competing for the postseason in 2026.  Whereas the Angels haven’t had a winning season since 2015, the Tigers have reached the ALDS in consecutive years, and upgrading a middling bullpen would be a step in the right direction.  As much as Detroit has relied on its “pitching chaos” strategy, having a clear-cut closer might help solidify things.

Will Vest performed quite well as the Tigers’ primary closer last year, but the Tigers’ interest in such pitchers as Pete Fairbanks, Kyle Finnegan, and (before he joined the Mets) Devin Williams indicates that the club wants to either augment its list of ninth-inning choices, or Vest could be moved into a fireman role.  Jansen’s decline in strikeouts could be a red flag, however, as Detroit is particularly eager to add more swing-and-miss to its relief mix.  Tigers relievers combined for just a 20.1% strikeout rate in 2025, the second-lowest bullpen K% in all of baseball.

Angels Add Darryl Scott, Dom Chiti To Coaching Staff

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The Angels have established their 2026 coaching staff. General manager Perry Minasian informed reporters (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) that they’ve added Darryl Scott (assistant pitching coach), Dom Chiti (bullpen coach), and Derek Florko (assistant hitting coach) to the group. They’re the final hires for Kurt Suzuki’s first season at the helm.

Scott heads to Orange County after four seasons as the lead pitching coach with the Rockies. He’d previously spent two years as Colorado’s bullpen coach and had been in the organization dating back to 2009. The 57-year-old’s time in professional baseball began with the Angels. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the franchise in 1990 and made 16 relief appearances for the ’93 team. That wound up being his only MLB action amidst a decade-long minor league career.

The Rockies had by far the worst pitching staff in MLB in 2025. Their 5.99 earned run average was more than half a run higher than that of the 29th-place Nationals. They were last with a 17.2% strikeout rate and a 9.8% swinging strike percentage. Their 5.44 ERA in road games was also worst in MLB, so the issues went well beyond the challenge of pitching at Coors Field.

All coaches are at the mercy of their personnel to a large extent, of course, and Scott didn’t have an especially talented group of pitchers with which to work. It nevertheless didn’t come as a huge surprise that the Rockies shook things up at the end of the season. They’re reportedly hiring Alon Leichman away from the Marlins to take over as pitching coach. Scott brings decades of experience to the Halos.

Chiti, 66, is an internal hire. He’d been working as the organization’s minor league pitching coordinator. Chiti has plenty of experience on MLB coaching staffs, including a previous two-year run as Halos bullpen coach. He has held the same position with the Rangers, Orioles, and Mets at times over the past two decades. Chiti replaces Steve Karsay, who’d held the job for the past two years on Ron Washington’s staff.

Angels relievers ranked ahead of only the Rockies and Nats with a 4.86 ERA this past season. That’s despite strong work from Kenley Jansen and Reid Detmers, neither of whom are in that mix right now. Jansen is a free agent, while Detmers is ticketed for a return to the rotation. A healthy season from Robert Stephenson would be a boost, but the Angels should acquire multiple relievers. Pursuing a reunion with Jansen would make sense.

Florko receives his first promotion onto an MLB staff. He has worked as a hitting instructor in the farm system since 2019. Florko has spent the past four years working with low minors hitters at the team’s Arizona complex. He’ll work alongside first-time hitting coach Brady Anderson (a three-time All-Star as a player) and a very experienced assistant hitting coach in John Mabry.

The rest of Suzuki’s staff is as follows: pitching coach Mike Maddux, bench coach John Gibbons, first base/outfield coach Adam Eaton, third base coach Keith Johnson, infield coach Andy Schatzley, and catching coach Max Stassi. Minasian also announced that former interim manager Ray Montgomery is returning to the organization in a front office role. Montgomery led the club for the final few months of the ’25 season after Washington stepped aside for health reasons.

Cubs, Giants, Angels, Tigers Among Teams Interested In Zac Gallen

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TODAY: Both The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale expanded on Feinsand’s link between Gallen and the Cubs, writing that Chicago indeed has interest in the free agent.  Giving up draft compensation to sign Gallen isn’t a deal-breaker for the team, Mooney notes, as the Cubs have shown interest in other players (i.e. Ranger Suarez, Michael King) who rejected qualifying offers.

DECEMBER 5: Right-hander Zac Gallen didn’t have the platform season he envisioned heading into free agency, but the former Cy Young finalist and All-Star nevertheless turned down a qualifying offer from the D-backs and hit the open market last month. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Giants have had conversations with Gallen’s camp (video link). MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds the Angels and Tigers to the list of teams with interest in Gallen. He also indicates that the Orioles, Cubs and Braves have at least looked into Gallen. Meanwhile, John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports recently suggested a D-backs reunion was unlikely.

Gallen, who turned 30 in August, struggled through four brutal months to begin the 2025 season but ended with a flourish. Through the time of the trade deadline, the right-hander was lugging a 5.60 ERA toward the finish line. That ugly ERA came despite roughly average strikeout and walk rates (22.1% and 8.6%, respectively). He was getting hammered by the long ball, yielding 23 homers in his first 127 frames of the season (1.63 HR/9).

From August onward, Gallen looked more like his typical self. His strikeout rate dipped two percentage points, to a below-average 20.3%, but his walk rate improved to 7.1%. Most importantly, he cut back on the home runs. Gallen yielded just eight round-trippers in his final 65 innings — a rate of 1.11 per nine innings, which falls far more closely in line with his career mark (1.05).

Even with a 3.32 earned run average over his final 11 starts, Gallen closed out the year with an unsightly 4.83 ERA overall. It’s not a strong mark, but Gallen and Boras are surely hoping that track record and impeccable durability will carry his market. Gallen started 33 games in 2025 and is tied with Jose Berrios for the fourth-most starts in MLB (126) dating back to 2022. His 734 innings rank third in the sport during that time, trailing only Logan Webb and Framber Valdez. Gallen has only been on the major league injured list three times in his career — a pair of short stints due to hamstring strains in 2024 and 2021 and a month-long IL stay for a mild elbow sprain back in ’21.

The Giants are a sensible fit. They’re looking for rotation help but not keen on handing out the type of six- and seven-year deals we’ll see for many of the market’s top names. Giants brass has seen him more than most pitchers over the years, as an ultra-durable stalwart in a division rival’s rotation. President of baseball operations Buster Posey even personally faced Gallen eight times, going 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a home run.

San Francisco has the aforementioned Webb atop the rotation and signed through 2028. No. 2 starter Robbie Ray is signed only through the 2026 season. Right-hander Landen Roupp positioned himself for a rotation spot with a nice showing through 22 starts in his age-26 season. Other candidates at the moment include Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald and Carson Seymour. It’s a fine collection of depth, but there’s also plenty of uncertainty (hence the focus on rotation upgrades).

Gallen wouldn’t need to be the Giants’ ace but would give them a reliable source of innings and a big track record on which to dream. The Giants’ projected payroll, per RosterResource, is a bit under $169MM. That’s right about the same level at which they opened the 2025 season, but Giants ownership has topped $200MM payrolls in the past — even as recently as 2024. There’s room to add to the budget.

The Angels’ projected payroll is in a near-identical spot to that of the Giants, but the Angels trotted out a $203MM Opening Day mark just this past season. Mike Trout and Yusei Kikuchi are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season, and only Trout is signed beyond 2027.

In Anaheim, Gallen would join a rotation currently fronted by Kikuchi and Jose Soriano. Beyond that duo, the Angels are likely to give former top prospect Reid Detmers, who had a strong season in the bullpen in ’25, another look in the rotation next season. They’ve also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Orioles and signed Alek Manoah to a one-year deal this winter. Former top prospect Caden Dana headlines the depth options — a group also including Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, Walbert Urena, Jack Kochanowicz and prospect George Klassen, who has not yet been added to the 40-man roster. There are some talented arms in the mix, but as with the Giants, the Halos simply lack stability behind a pair of generally established veterans atop the rotation.

Over in Detroit, the Tigers have some more stability but less depth. Having the best pitcher on the planet on the roster is a nice start, of course, and the Tigers can follow Tarik Skubal with Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and sophomore Troy Melton. Adding Gallen would push Melton to the top depth option, presumably in Triple-A, alongside Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Ty Madden and prospect Jaden Hamm (not yet on the 40-man roster).

The Tigers have one of the cleanest long-term payroll sheets of any club in MLB. Javier Baez’s six-year contract runs through 2027. He and Colt Keith — playing on a six-year, $28.6425MM extension — are the only two players guaranteed anything beyond the 2026 season. Adding Gallen would give the Tigers some 2026 stability and protect them in the event that Skubal, Flaherty and/or Mize all depart in free agency next winter.

The other clubs listed by Feinsand are all known to be in the market for rotation help, too, so none of the bunch is particularly surprising. It’d be out of character for the Braves to sign Gallen, unless his market collapses and he signs a short-term pillow deal (either one year or two years with an opt-out). Atlanta hasn’t given more than $30MM to a free agent starting pitcher under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. The Orioles are likely searching for ceiling over stability, so unless they’re confident they can get Gallen back to his 2022-23 form, he’s probably not Plan A or B in Baltimore. The Cubs are already counting on one bounceback from a notable starter (Shota Imanaga), though Gallen fits the spending profile they’ve pursued in offseasons more than the other names at the top of the market.

Even coming off a down year, Gallen will likely find a multi-year pact. Even if he prefers to bet on himself with a shorter-term deal, he’s precisely the type of former All-Star for whom the Boras Corporation has frequently negotiated two-year deals with opt-out pacts. We predicted a four-year deal for Gallen on our annual ranking of the sport’s Top 50 free agents, believing that the market will value his durability and track record enough to get him paid nicely — albeit not to the extent he’d have enjoyed coming off a more typical season. Gallen will presumably be presented a variety of contract structures, many of which will have opt-out opportunities or convoluted multi-year player and club options alike. The deal he ultimately accepts will hinge on his personal level of risk aversion.

Latest On Michael King’s Market

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Michael King is one of the bigger risk-reward plays in the starting pitching class. He’s arguably a top 10 pitcher in MLB when healthy but is coming off a platform season that was wrecked by a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder. He’s also attached to draft compensation after rejecting a qualifying offer from the Padres.

That hasn’t deterred plenty of teams from expressing interest. King was already known to be a target for the Cubs, Tigers and Yankees, while even the Marlins checked in as a long shot suitor. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Joel Sherman of The New York Post each write that the Mets are involved. Feinsand adds the Orioles, Angels and incumbent Padres as teams on the periphery of the market. Sherman reports that the Red Sox have also shown interest in the 30-year-old righty.

King converted to the rotation late in the 2023 season as a member of the Yankees. He pitched well enough to stick as a starter after being traded to San Diego as the centerpiece of the Juan Soto deal. King finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, pitching to a 2.95 ERA while striking out 201 batters over 31 appearances. He’d pitched even better over the first six weeks of the ’25 campaign. King reeled off 10 starts with a 2.59 earned run average and punching out 28% of opponents before the injury.

Durability is the big question. The shoulder issue wasn’t structural but proved a lot more problematic than initially expected. He wound up missing almost three months and showed signs of rust when he returned late in the season. King gave up 12 runs while tallying all of 17 1/3 innings over five starts in the second half. His velocity was fine but he only managed 12 strikeouts while issuing nine free passes.

King appeared on track for a nine-figure contract amidst his hot start. That’s tougher to envision now, as the 2024 campaign remains the only season in which he has reached even 105 innings. That’s largely because of his usage with the Yankees, but he also missed a couple months in 2021 with a finger injury and suffered a season-ending elbow fracture the following year.

MLBTR predicted King to receive a four-year, $80MM contract. It’s also possible he prefers a two- or three-year deal with an opt-out to get back to free agency next winter. King declined the straight one-year qualifying offer, but a multi-year deal with an out clause would give him a little more security than the QO would have provided. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this morning that King is willing to sign for a shorter term than the top free agent arms (e.g. Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez). That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a four-year deal, as the best starters are expected to command five or six-year contracts. Dylan Cease already pulled a seven-year guarantee.

The Mets should come away with a mid-rotation or better arm via free agency or trade. They stayed away from the top of the rotation market last winter. That worked out early in the year but collapsed down the stretch. Only the Rockies, Nationals and Angels had a higher second-half ERA from their rotation than the Mets’ 5.31 mark. Nolan McLean looks like a budding frontline starter, but he’s their only pitcher who allowed fewer than 4.20 earned runs per nine after the All-Star Break.

Baltimore, Boston, San Diego and the Angels have all been in the rotation market. The Red Sox should probably focus elsewhere after acquiring Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trade. The Angels have landed a pair of starters this offseason as well, but Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah both have significant health questions. They still need a starter and are also in the mix for Zac Gallen. The O’s are involved on Valdez and Suárez; no pitcher seems to be off the table for them. The Padres are unlikely to spend what it’d take to bring King back, though they’ll need multiple rotation adds after also losing Cease to free agency and Yu Darvish to elbow surgery.

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